


A New Hope

by erin_babbit



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe, Everlark Week Challenge, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-08
Updated: 2012-10-08
Packaged: 2017-11-15 22:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erin_babbit/pseuds/erin_babbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rescue of a rebel princess from the dark side. Written for Prompts In Panem AU Everlark Week Challenge (October 2012) Day 2: Other Worlds<br/>Star Wars Crossover</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Hope

_A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…_

_It is a period of rebellion. Rebel spaceships have won their first victory against the Galactic Empire and have managed to steal the plans of the Empire’s most deadly weapon, the Death Star. Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Princess Katniss races back to her home planet, District 12, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy._

_But she is intercepted and taken captive by Lord Cato aboard the Death Star…_

            My refusal to talk to Lord Cato has me treading on thin ice. Even the serum they had given me could not overtake my will.  They have threatened my execution many times over the past few days but I shall not budge; I will remain quiet about the whereabouts of the plans until death, if I have to.

            My only hope for the survival of this galaxy lies in the bumbling R2 unit of my starship that I coded the plans into. His purpose now is to find Haymitch Abernathy so he can deliver the plans to my father back on District 12. Plans that will help us destroy the Death Star.

I spend my days counting the taps of the guards’ footsteps going by my doors.

            When Lord Cato came to visit me again in my patent cell, he brought along a man he introduced as Grand Admiral Marvel and a new threat.

            “Princess Katniss, it seems that you are not afraid of death.”

            “I am not.” I tipped my chin up a bit.

            “But perhaps, the threat of harm to your family and the entirety of District 12 may help, no?”

            I am frozen on the spot.

            “Ah, I see we have found a sore spot. Perhaps now you could give us the location of the rebel base?”

            My mouth is dry. Surely he is bluffing.

            “My dear Princess, I will not hesitate to use this ship for what it is known for. I will obliterate it if you do not answer my question.”

            My mind is rushing and I shout the first location that comes to mind, even though I am aware it has been abandoned. This will buy the Rebels the time they need. “Tatooine.”

            They leave without another word.

           

 

            Something seems to be wrong. I can hear the frantic pace of the footfalls outside my cell door. There is a breach. And then there is silence.

 

           

            I’m awoken by my chamber door opening. A single Stormtrooper enters. He has to duck to get in the door. “Kind of tall for a Stormtrooper aren’t you?” I say.

            He lurches towards me, “C’mon! Let’s go!”

            “What?” I back myself to the wall.

            “Oh…wait.” He pulls the helmet off his head, “I’m Gale. Gale Hawthorne and I’m here to save you Princess.”

            “Where did you come from? Who…”

            “My uncle bought an R2 that had a message from you on it. That little thing sure knew what he was doing. He led me straight to Haymitch Abernathy…”

            I cut him off, “Haymitch Abernathy! He’s here?”

            “He is. He’s attempting to release the tractor beams that pulled our ship into the Death Star. We came to deliver the plans to District 12, just like you had ordered, but when we got here…it wasn’t here.”

            I feel my heart sink. Earlier in the day, hours after my visit from Admiral Marvel, I had felt a searing sadness go through my chest. A strange power I had been attuned to all my life; as if I could feel the emotions that radiated off of others. I was sure this is what a broken heart must feel like but I was not sure where it came from. “B-but they said…I gave them an answer. It’s, it’s not true. You weren’t at the right place. You couldn’t have been.”

            Gale grabs my shoulders, “Princess, I’m so sorry…”

            I push his hands from me, “No, don’t say it.”

            “…there is no District 12.”

I sink to the ground, my knees becoming too weak to hold me any longer. An explosion rocks me from my trance. “Katniss, we have got to get out of here.” Gale yanks me up into a standing position and drags me to the door.

            A voice rings out from down the corridor, “C’mon kid! They’re coming!” We start to run towards the voice. We are met with a barrage of booms and sparks bursting from the door. Another man in a Stormtrooper uniform, sans helmet runs towards us. His blond hair is mussed, sticking out in all directions. He quickly ducks behind a metal jut on the wall. Gale pulls me over to the opposite wall, taking cover behind an identical protrusion. They both start to shoot their guns, sending jets of red flashes into the chest plates of the wave of white suits. The blonde is a horrible shot.

            “So this is the Princess we’ve come to rescue, huh? You don’t look like much of a princess, sweetheart.” The blond man says in between glancing at me and shots at the Troopers.

            I narrow my eyes at him, “I am. And who might you be? Besides cocky.”

            “Peeta Mellark, at your service.” And then he gave a curt bow before returning to his blasts.

            Gale has begun shouting into a communicuff. “3PO, we’re trapped in the hallway. We need another way out!” There is static and then a proper, robotic voice comes over the small speaker.

This is the only way out.

“Great. Now what are we supposed to do? We can’t fight them off forever.” Peeta groans.

I grab Gale’s gun, “Some rescue this is.” And with that I shoot out the grate covering the garbage chute.

“Well, look at that. You sure are feisty, aren’t you?” Peeta retorts.

With a snarl in his direction, I hurl myself down the tube and splash into the grimy water of the collection of trash below. Two plops follow me. Peeta wades to the door, turning the lever and being met by a solid click of a lock. He turns to me, crooked smile in place, “And what would be the Princess’ next plan of action?”

I splash the murky water at him.

“C-3PO, come in 3PO.” Gale is on his communicuff again, yelling for his robot. I glance around to see if there is another way out. We are surrounded by metal; the walls and hatch are impenetrable and the waste surrounding us looks to be pieces of failed attempts of droids and spaceships. Metal clinks against metal. And Gale yells on, “Where is he?”

There’s a loud groan and then the walls, no the compactor, springs to life. I can feel my heart beating in my ears now.

“Grreeeaaattt.” Peeta draws out.

Gale is shouting at the device on his wrist again. The walls slowly ascend onto us, the hardware crunching without hesitation.

Suddenly, hands are on my waist lifting me up. “We have to get you higher. No use in a squashed Princess.” Peeta hoists me up onto the growing alloy mountain.

“I am not just a princess, sir. I am a Rebel leader. And I can help myself.” I boast.

He helps me find my footing on a flat piece of debris. “Oh, well then that would explain why you’re not afraid to get a little dirty.” And there’s that cocky smile again.

The walls continue to close in on us. Gale is climbing to the top too, but his C-3PO has not answered. I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic now. And still Peeta urges me to climb.

            The robotic voice comes over the device on Gale’s wrist then. “Stop the trash compactors!” The voice asks which one. “I don’t know! Just…just stop all of them! Hurry up!” The seconds tick by and still the sides close in.

            And then it stops.

            Gale lets out a celebratory round of shouts and Peeta encases me in a hug atop the unstable mound. He pulls away quickly, adjusting his uniform around his neck. The door clicks and we climb our way down and into the brightly lit hallways.

            They begin to shed their Stormtrooper uniforms. “What should we do now?” Gale asks.

            “Get back to the Millennium Falcon and get the hell out of here. The old man’s had plenty of time to knock the tractor beam off.”

            “Right. Let me make sure the droids are near the ship.” Gale adjusts his tunic and begins speaking into his communicuff once again.

            Peeta re-laces his boots. He does not seem to be a man of importance in his well-worn pants and a vest hanging over a fitted shirt that was probably white at one time. His hair is long, hanging over the tops of his ears in waves and I feel my fingers twitch at the sight.

            “Like what you see?” He asks his back towards me.

            “Are you always this insufferable?”

            “It’s a gift, my lady.” And then he bows low and exaggerated.

            I stomp off in a huff.

 

 

            After the confirmation of the location of Gale’s droids, we weave through the corridors. Peeta takes down the few guards we encounter and I am able to gain a gun of my own. The closer we get to the ship, the more dense the Stormtroopers. Upon arrival at the site of the Falcon, we are overrun with the soldiers and are quickly separated, Peeta pulling me along with him and Gale fleeing in the opposite direction. “Just do what you can to get to the ship!” he yells after us.

            With many turns behinds us and the guards gaining on us, we slip into an open doorway, pushing the button immediately to close it. Peeta shoots the control pad.

            I turn to an open space of similar doors and then I look down into the never ending nothingness. We are trapped. “Uh, Peeta, probably shouldn’t have done that.”

            He turns and looks down. “Yeah, probably shouldn’t have done that.”

            To the right of us, another door opens. A half a dozen Stormtroopers fill the opening and begin to blast us. We take cover in the small space, shooting rather blindly to take them down. Once the area is cleared, Peeta begins to fidget with something from a pouch on his belt.

            “What’s that?” I ask.

            “Something I made, like a grapple. It’s pretty strong. I think we can swing over there.”

            “Are you insane?”

            “Maybe.”

            He throws the grapple with precision he lacks with a gun and it catches itself on a hanging sort of vent above us. “Alright, hang onto me, okay?”

            “Peeta! What if it can’t hold us? What if we…” But I don’t get to finish. He snatches me by the waist and swings us over to the next doorway in one quick motion. Once I’ve taken a breath and he has let go of me, I smack him right across the cheek, straighten my dress and glare at him.

            “You’re welcome.” He says, making a face at me.

            The corridor leads us to the landing dock. And there in front of me sits the most beat up ship I’ve ever seen in my life. “Are we sure this thing even flies?” I ask.

            “Of course it can fly. It’s the fastest ship in the galaxy. Built most of it myself.” Gale comes running out the opposite corridor, Stormtroopers gaining on him, zooming past us. “Shall we, Princess?” Peeta asks as he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the ship.

            Ahead, I can see the very same R2 unit and golden C-3PO from my own captured ship making their way up into the hatch. Peeta turns to keep an eye out for the guards that are gaining on us. But Gale stops abruptly. I follow his gaze to the fight happening down another corridor; one between Lord Cato and Haymitch Abernathy. Gale calls for him and he looks to us with a smile. On the next wave of Lord Cato’s lightsaber, he disappears into thin air.

            We both clutch our chests at the same time, as if something unknown has just ripped through us.

            Gale is poised to go after him. Between the shots of the Stormtroopers, Peeta pulls Gale into the ship. It begins to grumble and rumble before the door has even shut.

            We make our way to the cockpit, where Peeta introduces his co-pilot. “This is Thom. Great pilot. Horrible shot, worse than me really, been with me for years.” Thom is a very large man, hairy and seems to talk in intangible noises. But he is, indeed, a very good pilot.

 

            After we have escaped the Death Star and shot down the tie fighters that followed. I direct Thom and Peeta to Yavin, to meet up with the Rebel Forces. It is then, that I discover what my rescue means to Peeta Mellark.

            “So after all this, you just want a reward and then you’re going to leave us?”

            “Listen Princess, you’ve got enough spunk for both of us okay? Send my regards to the Rebels. I’ve got shit I’ve got to do.” He smirks at me, standing a foot in front of me.

            I step forward, “Don’t you want to see the galaxy returned to the ways of the Old Republic? Don’t you want what’s best for the galaxy _you_ live in?”

            He steps forward, his nose nearly touching mine, “I’ve got enough people out to ring my neck as it is. I don’t need to worry about the Galactic Empire trying to take me down too.”

            “But they will eventually, if you do not stand up to them.”

            “This is your fight, not mine. I want nothing to do with it.”

            I stare at him, his breath on my face. “I shall see you are rewarded and you can be on your way. I think it is best anyways. You are not a noble man.” With that I leave him to his heap of a ship.

 

             

            I watched the hologram of so many of our Rebel fighters fall. When it came to Gale, I felt my mouth go dry. I was rather fond of Gale. Not only did he prove to be a valuable asset, but he also became a friend. I am unsure of the feeling that floods me when Peeta Mellark shows up in time for Gale to take down the Death Star.

            But there he was, in the nick of time. Peeta fended off the three fighters just as they gained on him and I felt a small smile creep across my face.

            When they had landed, I embraced Gale first but he was soon consumed in the masses of the Rebel Forces with so much pride that they hoisted him and sang to him.

            Peeta walked from his ship, alone, towards the crowd. Before I could think, I was running to him, flinging my arms around my neck. He lifted me off the ground.

            “I knew you’d come.” I say.

            “Did you? But I am not a noble man, you said so yourself.”

            “But you are a man who likes a challenge, no?”

            He smiles at me. “I do like a challenge.”

            “Even if there’s no reward?” I tease.

            “Even if there’s no reward.”

            The chaos has noticed he has arrived and have started to make their way over. I lean in so he can hear me over the celebration. “So that means you’ll stay with me…I mean, us? You’ll stay with us?”

            He hesitates just for a moment, “Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am aware I may have butchered this. But please understand, I love Star Wars and this was just a bit of fun.


End file.
